"Lu Tao!!!"
"I will tear you to pieces!"
Within the Dragon Clan of Longzhou, the furious roar of dragons echoed through the sky, the killing intent contained within the sound so intense that even the clouds above were imbued with a menacing aura.
The enormous dragon body, hundreds of feet long, stretched across the void, its head raised high, unrestrained and mad.
Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!
At the same time, the other powerful members of the True Dragon Clan also had bloodshot eyes, their bodies shrouded in killing intent, and their anger was boundless.
They couldn't wait to find Lu Tao and extract his soul.
Seeing this, the other powerful members of the alliance of races all stared silently at the damaged corner of the pool.
This is the Dragon Transformation Pool.
The entire Dragon Transformation Pool shone with golden light, even the water itself was golden.
It was extremely large, square in shape, reaching a height of a thousand feet, resembling a pond.
However, at this moment, a small gap appeared in one corner of the Dragon Transformation Pool.
However, this small gap is only relative to the enormous Dragon Transformation Pool. In reality, the gap is a full half-zhang in size.
The notch was somewhat rounded and smooth, but the edges were charred black.
It looked as if it had been burned by something.
The pool was completely empty.
After venting for a while, Ao Chen finally fell from mid-air with a gloomy expression. His huge dragon head pressed against the gap in the Dragon Transformation Pool, and he remained silent for a long time.
"Could it be that Lu Tao... obtained some kind of rule fire? Otherwise, how could he have burned down the Dragon Transformation Pool?"
The voice of the Fourth Elder, Ao Xu, was very deep.
The appearance of the Dragon Transformation Pool was clearly damaged by fire.
The Dragon Transformation Pool is no ordinary object; its hardness and strength far surpass even that of defensive divine artifacts.
Even a half-step Divine Emperor level expert could not harm it in the slightest.
Could Lu Tao really destroy the Dragon Transformation Pool with just a mere flame?
He didn't believe it.
Ao Yulong gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "Even a single flame of the rules would be difficult to burn down the Dragon Transformation Pool. It is a pool that is almost as powerful as the Ascension Pool."
Ao Yu was also filled with confusion.
The Dragon Transformation Pool has never been damaged over countless years, and they never imagined that it would be destroyed by some creature.
Countless powerful figures have appeared in the desolate region, all of whom have wanted to claim the Dragon Transformation Pool for themselves.
But in reality...
It has always been here, and has never been taken away by any other powerful entity.
Even a half-step God Emperor wouldn't be enough.
Not only that, even with the Cat King's strength, once it cultivates to the perfection of the God King realm, it cannot move the Dragon Transformation Pool even a fraction, nor can it destroy it.
The Dragon Transformation Pool is not a living being; it is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth.
Other rules have no effect on it.
But Lu Tao actually did it.
Moreover, they accomplished this in a very short time. If they hadn't returned in time, the gap would probably have been even larger.
Only the Third Elder, Ao Bo, who was at the Divine Lord level, guessed, "Could it be... that Lu Tao possesses many Flames of Rules?"
"How is that possible? The rarity of the Flame of Rules is even greater than that of the Item of Rules. If he were to obtain even one, it would be an incredible stroke of luck. There is absolutely no way he could obtain more."
Ao Yu shook his head and said, "Moreover, even ten flames of rules would be difficult to burn a gap in the Dragon Transformation Pool in such a short time."
The Fire of Rules was something that many elders of the True Dragon Clan had seen before, or at least knew about.
It simply doesn't possess that power.
"well!"
At this moment, Ao Chen, who had been silent all along, suddenly sighed deeply, his whole body filled with exhaustion.
Originally, the attack on the human race nearly wiped them out. Even if they ultimately failed to kill the Human Emperor, it would still be a cause for celebration. However, in the end, they not only lost the Seventh Elder but also lost the Dragon Transformation Pool.
Ao Chen said softly, "Fortunately, although the Dragon Transformation Pool is missing a corner, its function is not greatly affected and it can still be used."
However, the water accumulated in the Dragon Transformation Pool has been taken away by Lu Tao, and it will be necessary to wait for the water to accumulate to a certain level before it can be used again.
"This Lu Tao must be eliminated!"
Seeing Ao Chen speak, the pangolin beast also broke its silence and said in a deep voice, "Lu Tao has the ability to destroy the Dragon Transformation Pool, so he has the ability to harm us. His growth is too fast!"
These words immediately caused an uproar among the powerful figures.
"That's right. If even such a solid Dragon Transformation Pool can be destroyed, then it wouldn't be difficult to obliterate our physical bodies."
"Hiss... Not only the physical body, but even divine artifacts and souls can be easily burned."
"This is terrifying. How can he possess such abilities?"
The powerful figures also came to their senses. They had been still in shock at the destruction of the Dragon Transformation Pool, and only now did they realize that if even the Dragon Transformation Pool could not withstand Lu Tao's damage, they would probably be in trouble as well.
"But the key is that we can't force him to come out."
The words of the Hun Tian Beast immediately filled the hearts of the powerful figures with a sense of powerlessness.
Lu Tao's time in the desolate region was too short, and he had no friends among the living beings. Even the human race could not force his true form out, let alone others.
They had absolutely no way to deal with Lu Tao.
Ao Chen looked up at the sky, his eyes slightly vacant.
He was also somewhat bewildered at this moment.
The dignified patriarch of the True Dragon Clan, a being at the pinnacle of God-King level, was somewhat bewildered and at a loss at this moment.
After pondering for a while, Ao Chen instructed, "No matter what, first spread the news of Lu Tao's inaction towards the human race to the lower realm, let all races spread it in the starry sky, and try to influence Lu Tao's faith so that he cannot gain any blessing in his comprehension."
According to the weasel, the blessing of enlightenment is not very strong.
But he himself only collected the faith of a mere state.
It's not even enough for one state.
Lu Tao, on the other hand, collected the faith of a full ten thousand planets, not only from humans, but also from other beings on those planets.
With such immense faith, who knows how many times Lu Tao will receive blessings?
Even if the impact only reduces Lu Tao's blessing by half, it will still delay Lu Tao's cultivation time by a great deal.
And this is one of the few methods they have left to target Lu Tao.
There was really no other way.
Upon hearing this, the powerful figures from all the races nodded silently and secretly passed on the instructions.
“Brother Ao, it seems we can’t kill Lu Tao on our own right now. We need to find more allies.”
At this moment, the pangolin made a suggestion to Ao Chen.
Ao Chen asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Lu Tao's rise to power is now almost unstoppable. Who in the wasteland would dare to side with them at this time?
The mythical beast Pangolin calmly uttered three words, "Tianyu Pavilion!"
"Um?"
Upon hearing this, Ao Chen was slightly taken aback at first, then his eyes suddenly lit up.
Before he could speak, the mountain-piercing beast calmly analyzed, "When Lu Tao offered a reward for a cultivation technique, he clearly had a better option, Tianyu Pavilion. In fact, if he had just offered the reward at Tianyu Pavilion, none of the subsequent events would have happened. But he chose another merchant guild instead. This at least shows that there must be a problem between Lu Tao and Tianyu Pavilion."
"Of course, this alone doesn't explain much. The key is this auction of the true dragon bloodline!"
“Previously, Lu Tao’s clone mentioned that the auction would be held in various chambers of commerce, but it is unknown whether Tianyu Pavilion was included among these chambers. If not, it means that there is definitely a problem between him and Tianyu Pavilion.”
"By then, we will be able to bring Tianyu Pavilion here."
The mountain-piercing beast surveyed the assembled experts and said in a deep voice, "Lu Tao's repeated abandonment of Tianyu Pavilion will definitely displease them. Although we don't know the specific grudges between them, at least, to avoid danger, Tianyu Pavilion should not sit idly by and watch Lu Tao dominate the wasteland in the future and become their enemy."
Upon hearing this, the other powerful figures from various races all nodded in understanding.
"rational!"
“That’s right. If Tianyu Pavilion doesn’t get a share in the next bloodline auction, Lu Tao’s two actions prove that he has a problem with Tianyu Pavilion, or even a grudge against it. Then we can bring Tianyu Pavilion into the picture.”
"Indeed, with the addition of Tianyu Pavilion, their resources combined with the abilities of our various races might allow us to forge a Divine Emperor Weapon. At that time, wouldn't killing Lu Tao be a piece of cake?"
The strength of Tianyu Pavilion is absolutely terrifying. Moreover, they are the number one merchant guild in the Desolate Region. The materials they have collected are probably unmatched even by all the races combined.
With these materials and the Lava Clan's weapon-forging abilities, they were eagerly anticipating what kind of divine artifacts could be crafted.
"Well, that depends on whether the upcoming bloodline auction will be held at Tianyu Pavilion."
Ao Chen nodded silently, then sighed with some regret, "It's a pity that the Pavilion Master of Tianyu Pavilion didn't mention any grudges between him and Lu Tao when he offered a reward for the cultivation technique last time. Otherwise, we could have brought them over sooner."
Suddenly, Ao Yu looked at the Heavenly Frog and said, "Brother Frog, use the rules of cause and effect to examine the grudges between Lu Tao and Tianyu Pavilion."
"Yes, let's check first. Once we find out the results, we can inform the Pavilion Master of Tianyu Pavilion so that we can better persuade them to join us."
"Brother Frog, check this out quickly."
Other powerful individuals also urged them on.
With the Heavenly Frog around, and combined with its pupils, it's incredibly convenient to investigate certain causes and effects.
"good!"
The Heavenly Frog nodded slightly, then immediately activated its Eyes and used the rules of cause and effect to examine the situation.
In just a few breaths, he discovered the connection between Lu Tao and Tianyu Pavilion, but he couldn't find out the specific grudges.
He couldn't help but continue to examine the matter more closely, further consuming the rules of causality.
The result was a blank page.
Seeing that he had exhausted a lot of energy, Tianwa stopped and said to the group of experts, "Lu Tao and Tianyu Pavilion don't have much interaction. Their main interaction is with Xiong Bo, the branch master of Tianbian City, but it's only about selling the secrets of the Demon Cat Clan."
“Through the rules of cause and effect, I learned that Tianyu Pavilion once had the opportunity to trade the Cat Emperor Scripture from Lu Tao, but the matter was ultimately dropped, not because Tianyu Pavilion had any problems in this matter.”
"If we're talking about grudges, there's only one."
Hearing this, Ao Chenlong asked with a slight sway of his beard, "What grudge?"
Tianwa said, "Xiong Bo once had a slight desire for the Cat Emperor Scripture, but that was all; he did not take any action."
"..."
The King of Gods was speechless upon hearing this.
It's perfectly normal for any being to have greed towards the Cat Emperor Sutra.
Even if Lu Tao were petty, he wouldn't give up the number one merchant guild in the desolate region because of such a trivial matter.
With the help of Tianyu Pavilion, it would be much more convenient and faster for him to collect cultivation techniques or auction off bloodlines.
The pangolin asked in bewilderment, "That's strange. Since there's no enmity between them, why did Lu Tao go to such lengths instead of coming here?"
Offering bounties for cultivation techniques is not a matter of collecting ordinary low-level materials, so Tianyu Pavilion is naturally the best choice.
But Lu Tao did the opposite.
He abandoned Tianyu Pavilion and chose several other chambers of commerce.
These seven chambers of commerce, to put it nicely, are the best chambers of commerce under Tianyu Pavilion.
But in reality, even combined, their power is far less than that of Tianyu Pavilion.
"There's no need to think too much about this. Let's see how the bloodline auction goes. Whether or not to involve Tianyu Pavilion is not for us to decide."
Ao Yu shook his head, no longer dwelling on the matter of Tianyu Pavilion. Instead, he brought up another matter, saying, "Speaking of which, I feel that Sect Master Luo is acting a bit strangely."
"How so?"
All the gods looked over upon hearing this, while the pangolin beast fell into deep thought.
Ao Yu pondered and said, "Everyone knows the personality of Sect Master Luo. She has always been low-key and does not provoke trouble. In the hundreds of thousands of years, the number of times she has taken action can be counted on one hand. But recently, she has been acting strangely."
Before the other God Kings could ask, he continued, "First of all, there was the matter of the Crimson Feather Hall. Even though the Crimson Feather Hall smeared the major merchant guilds, causing Sect Master Luo and the others to be furious, given Sect Master Luo's personality, she shouldn't have taken the initiative to ask the Crimson Feather Hall to compensate her. But at that time, she acted like the person in charge the whole time."
"Moreover, even when I stepped in, Sect Master Luo was so domineering, showing me no respect whatsoever, and seemed unafraid of offending us."
"That's one point. The second point of suspicion is that Sect Master Luo's behavior was really abnormal when she was with the human race. She actually swore an oath to save the Human Emperor, which shows that she was in a hurry and was more proactive than the Dark Tiger and the Azure Ape. I ask you all, would you swear an oath to save other living beings?"
The King of Gods remained silent; though no one answered the question, the answer was obvious.
Ao Yu smiled faintly and continued, "There is a third point, which is also the one that puzzles me the most."
"Luoxian Sect was the first merchant guild to issue a bounty for cultivation techniques, but he only offered a little over a hundred different techniques."
"It seems like there's no problem, but the key issue is that Lu Tao only recently ascended from the lower realm. Could he have collected over 2,800 other cultivation techniques in the lower realm?"
"That's absolutely impossible!"
Ao Yu denied this possibility with absolute certainty and continued, "We all know how those special cultivation techniques came about. They are created by living beings after they advance to the Heavenly God realm and the Heavenly Gift Domain, based on their own special talents."
"But in the lower realm, even if some beings possess special talents, they don't know what their talents are before the domain appears, so how can they create corresponding cultivation techniques?"
"If Lu Tao can gather so many cultivation techniques in the lower realm, then how many geniuses are there in the lower realm?"
"If that were true, they would have already ascended to the desolate region and be registered in the records of our various races. But in fact, they are not."
"Therefore, Lu Tao must have obtained those cultivation techniques after ascending to the God Realm."
Ao Yu was absolutely certain of this.
Ao Yu then continued, "Let's assume that Lu Tao obtained 1,500 different cultivation techniques in the lower realm. But to collect more than 1,300 techniques in just one year, and secretly at that, is only slightly less efficient than the efficiency of his bounty efforts. This is clearly abnormal."
"I asked Tianyu Pavilion if they would sell Lu Tao any other cultivation techniques, but they didn't."
"So, if I'm not mistaken, these cultivation techniques most likely come from the Luo Xian Sect. There must be some kind of deal or cooperation between Sect Master Luo and Lu Tao."
As soon as Ao Yu made his guess, all the powerful figures looked thoughtful.
The more I pondered it, the more I felt that this speculation was very likely true.
Ao Chen said with a murderous glint in his eyes, "So, Sect Master Luo is opposing us one after another because of Lu Tao?"
That should be the case.
Ao Yu nodded and continued, "That old woman was already nearing the end of her life, but she suddenly became high-profile on her deathbed. I can't think of any other possibility besides cooperating with Lu Tao."
The pangolin beast chimed in, "For a half-step Divine Emperor on the verge of death, cooperating with Lu Tao would only extend her lifespan or allow her to break through to a higher realm, but more likely..."
Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly lit up.
After being reminded, the other powerful god-kings also seemed to realize something, with one god-king exclaiming in surprise, "Leave the desolate region?"
Upon hearing this speculation, all the powerful figures displayed various expressions.
Leave the desolate region.
This is something that all powerful god-kings would think of.
Unfortunately, no living being has been able to leave over the countless years.
Gradually, fewer and fewer living beings focused their attention on this.
If Lu Tao can lead Sect Master Luo out of the desolate region, then they...
For a moment, the expressions of the many powerful figures became extremely interesting, each with their own thoughts.
Seeing that the atmosphere had suddenly become somewhat delicate, Ao Yu's heart sank, and he immediately said to Tianwa, "Brother Frog, please investigate the cause and effect between Sect Master Luo and Lu Tao immediately."
"By the way, also check if there are any other members of the Luo Clan Master Qingying's clan."
At this point, a murderous glint appeared in Ao Yu's eyes.
Since you've chosen to help Lu Tao, you must be prepared for your clan to be wiped out.
Unlike other merchant guilds such as Qingyueju and Jinghongxuan, Luoxianmen only helps with offering rewards for cultivation techniques and auctioning bloodlines. However, if the speculation is true, the cultivation techniques of the Luoxianmen sect leader have been of great help to Lu Tao, saving him a lot of time.
Otherwise, Lu Tao would have been found and killed by them long ago.
"good!"
The Heavenly Frog unleashed its Eye of Truth once more.
After more than ten breaths, the Heavenly Frog's voice rang out again, saying, "Indeed, as Brother Ao guessed, Sect Master Luo and Lu Tao have a cooperative relationship. She hopes that Lu Tao will lead the Luo Immortal Sect out of the Desolate Region, and Sect Master Luo will give Lu Tao more than 2,800 cultivation techniques. She has been collecting cultivation techniques for this purpose for hundreds of thousands of years!"
"As for the Qingying clan of Sect Master Luo... there are some low-level members scattered throughout the desolate region. There are only six who have reached the Heavenly God realm, and two more who are Divine Lords. There are no Divine Kings. These Qingying have no connection with Sect Master Luo. The other Qingying have no idea that Sect Master Luo is a Qingying."
In just a few words, Tianwa finished telling all the information about Sect Master Luo.
"Low-key yet heartless, after becoming powerful, they do not know how to give back to their race. It is truly displeasing that such a creature can cultivate to the level of a half-step God Emperor."
Unable to find what he wanted, Ao Yu's expression turned extremely ugly, and his words were full of sarcasm.
(Two chapters combined)
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